Rei is a hugely influential character concept. Since Eva made the big splash back in 1995, we've seen dozens, if not hundreds, of anime heroines written almost exactly like her – pliable, passive, emotionless objects, perfectly suited to a timid geek's favorite fantasies. Rei has about as much personality as a Real Doll, and possibly that is not a coincidence.

Or does she? The difference between Rei and so many almost-Reis is that there might be something behind the façade. She's a mystery we never really solve, when you think about it. Even after we learn what's supposed to be the great big secret behind where she came from, that doesn't necessarily answer the real question. Is there more to Rei than what we think we see?

Like so many things about Evangelion, it's an awfully interesting argument starter, and it's nice to believe that it's what put her on the map. Sadly, the bandage fetish probably had more to do with it, but we are not our fellow fanboy's keeper.

There were plenty of magical girls before Sailor Moon, and there have been plenty of magical girls since her. Miss Moon, though, struck a balance that few shows before or since have matched. Earlier heroines like Minky Momo were childish and chaste. Her successors have grown ever more cheesy and lurid, appealing to the aging pervert market that she accidentally tapped for the first time.

Sailor Moon went so far and no farther. Her skirt was impossibly short, but you never did see what was under it. Compared to a recent creation like Lyrical Nanoha, she's a model of restraint.

One also has to recognize Sailor Moon's massive impact on American anime fandom. Hers was the first show that managed to draw in a measurable audience of real, live girls, who became genuinely hardcore fans thanks to shows like Rurouni Kenshin and Revolutionary Girl Utena. Which led, by a long and twisted trail, to a number of fanboys unexpectedly finding a way to lose their virginities at conventions some years down the line. They may not quite know it, but they owe you one, Sailor Moon.

Love him or hate him, he's recognized around the world. At his peak he was probably the best-known, best-loved, and most-often-bootlegged anime character since the heyday of Goku and Dragon Ball Z.

His appeal, of course, is perfectly simple. He has all the best qualities of the domestic housecat – fuzzy, friendly, occasionally silly – but without any of the down sides, like clawing the curtains or shedding all over the couch. He's unfailingly loyal, too, whereas your average cat would probably eat your throat while you sleep if you didn't happen to feed him twice a day. Consider Pikachu something close to the ideal pet, just so long as you don't happen to rile up his electric side.

Ed, let us say, has his failings. He is arrogant, he is hot-headed, he has the classic small-man's syndrome. He has a chip on his shoulder that you could send to the sawmill and use to build a decent-sized garden shed.

On the other hand, he and his kid brother Al make one of the best action-comedy teams in recent memory. The entry here really ought to belong to the Elric brothers collectively – it's hard to imagine the one without the other, after all. Together, they made Fullmetal Alchemist just about the biggest anime hit of the decade, and with the arrival of their second big TV series, we still haven't seen the last of them.

If you follow Shonen Jump's fan-favorite character polls, Naruto actually isn't the most popular character in his own series most of the time. Kakashi and Sasuke walk away with it as often as not, and he's even been squeezed out by a villain or two on occasion.

He's the engine that powers the franchise, though, that's pretty hard to argue against. Naruto's like a bouncing orange perpetual motion machine – just wind him up a touch and he goes. Sasuke may be tougher and Kakashi may be cooler and Deidara may be…well, blonde-er, or whatever it is people see in him, but the show could go without them in a pinch. It couldn't go on without the would-be Sixth Hokage, though, which is why he snags this spot on the list.